Welcome to Serrice
by PenMasterShepard
Summary: In a universe without Reapers, N7 training, and the Alliance, our college-aged protagonists live very different, but oh so familiar, lives. Can also be read by googling 'Welcome to Serrice' or on AO3: !(I am not updating this story on this site any longer due to limitations, but it's on AO3; 'Serrice' is completed there, and Part 2 of the series - 'Afterlife' - is also up.)!
1. Chapter 1

"Get with it, Lola!" Vega roared. Shepard groaned and felt the mud squelch against her cheek before she lifted herself off the ground. Wiping it away with the back of one hand she spat out a mouthful of clay and grimaced; the rest of her squad were at the far end of the field already, desperate to fend off another goal. She felt the stinging of a bad scrape where her shirt had ridden up when she slid across the grass and dirt. Her left hand was also scratched, but nothing she hadn't seen before.

 _Well dammit_

The whistle blew. Shepard clenched her teeth and threw her arms up in surrender as James looked back at her.

"Well, we lost." He said, holding out a hand as he approached, lifting her off her feet. The simulation team faded into nothingness; at least they didn't have to deal with gloating winners at practice.

"I see that."

"Well, hell, we tried," he gave her a slap on the shoulder and took off in a sprint toward the rest of the team. "Alright guys," he winked at Shepard as she slid into the huddle to join him. "And gals." He blew out a breath, "I got nothing. We played like shit, go take a shower." He swore in Spanish under his breath and snapped his neck from side to side, producing sharp cracks.

"Come on, Lola, if you hurry I'll soap your back."

She crossed her arms over her chest, "Not even if you were the last man on this Earth-err, Thessia."

"Si la belleza fuera un instante, tu serias la eternidad," he serenaded over his shoulder as they reached the edge of the pitch.

Vega's arms – arms the size of her thighs – rippled as he grabbed his bag, and, not for the first time, Jane wondered if he carried his whole life around in that duffle. Schoolbooks she figured. The captain of the spectacularly bad Serrice N7ers, skyballers extraordinaire, did have dark bags under his eyes lately. The University of Serrice wasn't for the jocks of the world, but damned if he wasn't trying.

 _"_ _I'm not going to be the first one in my family to go to_ and then flunk out of _college, Lola," he told her as they slumped against the bar, sharing beers during Orientation Week. "Nope. Fuck that." His eyes wandered to the lithe freshmen by the door. She followed his gaze: Blonde, 3-inch heels, and a skirt cut high enough to let Shepard guess that the blonde probably wasn't dyed._

 _Shepard gave a sideways smirk, and knew he would be doing just that before the night was over. "And," he pointed at Shepard with one thick finger, "I'm not gonna sail through on some biotiball scholarship either. I'm going to study." He brought his fist down on the bar with each word, the young batarian at the end of the bar shifting uncomfortably on his stool, all four eyes watching the rowdy humans._

 _"_ _Hey buddy," Vega said, raising his glass to the alien, "welcome to Serrice."_

Ya, you'll be studying alright _, Jane thought._ Anatomy. _She snorted into her beer._ Dweeb _._

The air was getting crisp, and she was giving silent thanks to God, or Athame, or whoever.

 _Finally_ , she thought, pulling her warm-up jacket over her jersey. She was sick of slathering sunscreen on every exposed inch of her fair and be-speckled skin; she actually wasn't even sure it was worth it. Did this planet even have UV rays? That would explain the lobster-like complexion she had supported all summer.

She grabbed her own bag and jogged after Vega, pulling a cigarette from the pack stuck in the outer pocket. "Go ahead, James," she called, stopping at the bleachers to light up, her slender fingers flicking the lighter deftly. She could see the tall buildings of the University coming alive with lit windows, the yellow glow somehow richer in the cold. She let out the first drag of smoke, startlingly white in the twilight that was descending, just as James made it back to her.

"You gotta give that up, Shepard, no wonder you can't run for shit."

"I run circles around you, you big lug," she straddled the bench, leaning back and bracing her weight on both hands behind her. She took another puff, closing her eyes. She was getting too old for this. _Leave the sports to the kids_ , she thought.

"Classy," he said, nodding at the smoke.

She opened her eyes, wincing as she stretched the tightness out of the fresh wound on her hand, running the other over her stomach. She tapped the ash off the end of her cigarette and onto the ground.

"We're just having a lousy season, Captain, don't blame me," she said.

Vega stood over Shepard's reclined form, pushing a finger into her sternum, "Listen, chica, try harder. I did for you guys. Do you think I liked all those extra credits I had to make up over the holidays? I did it so I could come back and lead your sorry ass to some kind of victory. We all gotta work together, I mean, can't you all see that?"

"Noted." Shepard replied, willing James to take a step back with her eyes. She didn't need this, not now.

She needed to hit the showers and walk back to her apartment, where she could crawl into bed and binge-watch old Earth TV while she still had the chance, before papers piled up around her ears. She needed to get his goddamned mud off her face.

Vega did take a step back, no longer hovering over Shepard's face. "Ah, what's the point, if none of you listen to me? I told Bailey he's got to cover your ass more on the approach, and Cortez has got to start watching his flank. You all need to start listening to-"

She had in fact stopped listening. Her attention had wandered to the entrance of the athletic complex, where a lone figure had wandered into the glow of one of the spotlights, alternating between scanning the field and studying the Omni-tool on her wrist, her brows knit together.

Shepard sat up instantly, swinging her legs over the bleachers and planting them, resting her elbows on her thighs. All of Vega's talk of plays faded into white noise, fuzzy and unimportant.

All she saw was blue.

 _Who is that?_


	2. Chapter 2

"Who is that?" She asked, looking up at Vega.

"Huh, what?" He turned to follow Shepard's gaze, "My tutor? Oh, shit, I'm late. She's going to kill me."

Shepard got to her feet, stamping out her cigarette in the dirt. She pulled her shirt down - it had ridden up while lounging- and unconsciously ran her fingers through her sweat-damp hair.

"Vega. What's her _name_?" Her eyes never left the asari, who had now spotted James and was tapping her wrist impatiently. Shepard straightened her spine.

 _She's not even looking at you, idiot._

She licked her lips self-consciously and tasted dirt.

 _Ah, fuck._

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck. I'm covered in mud. Figures._

Vega bent to pick up his bag once again and wiggled his eyebrows her. "Really Lola?" It was Shepard's turn to hit him, her eyes still locked on the woman. He laughed and ducked, "If I give her your number will you let me watch?"

She threw her bag at him, making him collapse into gales of laughter.

"What. Is. Her. Name?"

"Uh, Liara something. I think." He actually scratched his head, "Laura, maybe? Lana?"

"Jesus, Vega, you're a class act."

"What?"

Shepard turned her eyes back to Liara-Laura-Lana-Something, only to find her gone, a trailing white coat disappearing through the doorway.

"Okay, shit, I really gotta go, or I am going to be murdered. With biotics."

"If you don't shower first you're going to kill her with your stench."

James grinned, "Nah, Lola, girls like a musky smell. It's manly." He flexed his enormous arms.

She certainly hoped that this particular girl decidedly did not.

Vega winked again and was gone, dashing across the field calling out, "Yo, Doc, wait up!"

Shepard took her time in the showers. All of the other female N7ers were long gone but she could hear the raucous boys in the locker room across the hall, all towel snaps and Ooh-Rahs! She cherished the quiet as she tested the water with her uninjured hand, adjusting the tap a little west until it came out nice and hot.

Stripping off her uniform and throwing it into her gym bag she surveyed herself in the mirror, noting the wide abrasion that went from just below her navel to her right hipbone. Touching it gingerly she flinched at the raw, stinging sensation. She stepped into the shower and let the warm water clean her scratches before washing the mud off her face. She felt warmth that had nothing to do with the water creep up her face as she remembered how she had tried to preen in front of the asari with a face full of mud.

 _She was far away,_ her brain tried to reassure her. _Maybe she didn't notice._

Still, she felt foolish.

Might as well forget about it. James was probably sleeping with her anyway.

She held her face under the hot water.

 _Fuck._


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Shepard had towel dried her hair and pulled on her tank top and jeans she had succeeded in pushing the asari from the forefront of her mind. Rounding the corner onto the main thorough fair of campus she shoved her hands in her pockets and hunkered down against the rising wind.

She passed only a few other students in the now full dark; the campus was starting to empty out for the night. Mind on her upcoming assignment and how she was going to tackle her paper on the First Contact War she barely noticed the light rain that had begun to fall. More mist than anything, she only snapped back to her surroundings when her arms began to bead water.

She stopped under one of the lampposts and pulled her jacket out of her bag. As she threaded her arms through it she mulled over arguments for her paper.

 _General Williams' actions on Shanxi led to greater human losses than necessary? No, that's stupid, they all would have starved if he hadn't surrendered._

 _Without the First Contact War it would have taken humanity decades longer to discover they weren't alone in the galaxy. Ya, good one Shep, and while you're at it let's discuss what Golding intended when he included the Conch…_

What did she know about Galactic politics?

 _Isn't that what I'm here to learn?_ She thought, imagining her very turian professor reading her paper while wiping away tears of laugher from his yellow eyes before stamping a big fat F on the front page. The grade was vivid red in her mind's eye.

A muffled crash and loud thump made her raise her head. It was coming from the History building. Looking up at the darkened building she saw one floor lit up like Christmas, four or five windows in a row spilling soft light out into the night.

Looking over her shoulder to see if anyone else had heard the commotion she slowly rose from her crouch and hesitated, wondering if she should just keep going.

 _Whomp_

Whatever that was didn't sound good. She quickly counted up to the lit floor, made a mental note, and strolled to the door, actually whistling.

 _Real subtle, Jane. Next you'll be holding a newspaper over your face._

She tried the pressure pad on the door, glaringly red, and wasn't surprised when it flashed and beeped at her, effectively telling her to get lost. Crouching again, she brought her Omni-tool to the pad and hacked the lock while darting her head from left to right. It blazed green, allowing her to slip in.

 _This is so illegal. But on the upside, I feel like a goddamn Spectre,_ she thought, checking both sides of the darkened foyer for movement before dashing towards the stairwell door. Unlike the front, this one was open access.

Smoker or not she took the stairs two at a time, and was barely breathing hard as she reached the sixth floor access. _My luck that salarian night janitor will look at me funny and report me for trespassing. That'll look real good on my academic record._

 _'_ _Ms. Shepard, let's go through your record, shall we?' Jane Shepard, Galactic History Major, B average, shitty skyball player, decent guitarist, great piano player. Criminal.'_

 _Well yes, sir, I did break into the History building afterhours, but, you see, I heard a_ thump. _Very suspect._

But she couldn't shake the feeling that she was doing the right thing.

As she turned into the second hallway she knew her instincts were spot on, for once. Shepard heard a high-pitched squeak from an open door ahead, a room labeled Archaeology. Shepard saw blue light flooding out, reflecting off the highly polished tile.

Breaking into a run she heard a voice.

"Uh… hello? Could somebody help me? Please?"

That voice. _That voice._

It made her stop in her tracks, a deep throb of desire in the pit of her stomach.

It was smoky. Breathy.

Like flowing silk.

 _Melted chocolate, red wine, whiskey._

 _Jesus Christ, that voice._

"Can you hear me out there? I am trapped. I need help!"

She came back to herself and dashed into the room, pulling back on her heels in time to avoid crashing into a wispy blue orb that floated in what was obviously a storage room. Worktables lined the perimeter of the room and shelves were arranged throughout the centre in stacks, each full of relics, papers, and obvious dig site finds.

In the centre of the orb, suspended with her arms outstretched, was an asari.

 _The_ asari.

 _Holy shit._


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh, thank the Goddess!" The Liara-Lana-Laura asari said, staring down at Shepard with blue eyes as big as saucers.

Shepard stared, mouth slightly open. She slammed it closed and gulped.

"Are you okay? What happened to you?" She dropped her bag on the floor and slowly walked closer to the orb, circling it.

"This thing I'm in is a Prothean security device," the asari replied. "I cannot move, so I need you to get me out, alright?"

"Wait, a Prothean security device? How did you end up in there?" Shepard asked, her lips curling into a barely contained smile. This wasn't funny.

Kismet maybe, but not funny.

She swore she saw the asari blush, a deep purple. Jane decided it was her new favourite colour.

The voice that came out of Lana-Liara-Laura was much meeker this time, but it reverberated in Shepard's soul. "I was cleaning an artifact for a professor and, well, I must have hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out. Please."

Shepard's heart thumped against her chest, a hollow burn climbing at the word 'please'. A slower burn crept up her cheeks.

She looked around for the artifact, "Okay, what am I looking for?" She asked, looking up at the trapped woman.

"Oh! Yes. Right. Well I probably bumped into the activation switch on that table by the door, but perhaps just placing the piece back on the table will reset the pressure plate?"

"Okay, honestly I only understood half of what you just said," she admitted, "but I'll figure it out." She did as she was told and replaced the artifact on the table, after crawling under it to find the damn thing.

There was a brief buzz as the orb blipped into nothingness and Jane spun on her heels in time to catch the falling asari in her arms. She felt the warmth of her positively burn where they touched and quickly set her on her feet, clearing her throat and rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.

"Thank you. I would have been in there all weekend if you hadn't come along. I'm Liara T'Soni."

 _Liara._


	5. Chapter 5

"Goddess, this is a mess you have gotten yourself into, T'Soni," she mumbled, letting the orb take her weight. Floating helplessly she was grateful she could at least move her neck, glancing around the room and trying to find the dropped artifact.

 _Please, please, do not be broken._ Liara thought, closing her eyes and sighing. "I'm going to lose my spot here."

She cursed sending James home early. She cursed her temper, her clumsiness; this was entirely unlike her. It was entirely _unbecoming._ She imagined what she mother would say. That elicited another groan.

 _Maybe the janitor will find me?_ She thought. _My luck that jumpy salarian will hide in his broom closet, screaming Ardat-Yakshi!_

Just as she resigned herself to a long weekend of hunger and potentially pee-stained clothing she heard a door slam at the end of the hall.

"Uh… hello? Could somebody help me? Please?" She yelled, pleading with the Goddess silently.

"Can you hear me out there? I am trapped. I need help!"

A young human came rushing into the room, throwing her belongings aside and approaching the orb. Liara closed her eyes and exhaled relief.

"Oh, thank the Goddess!"

Liara had always been drawn to human hair, ever since she was a little girl in Armali, playing dress up with her mother and Shiala.

Young Liara has begged Benezia for a 'hair wig' for months before, beleaguered, she had given in.

 _"_ _Little Wing, a wig will not fit, Asari have crests, not hair" her mother had reasoned, the small blue child on her lap._

 _"_ _Oh, mother, I don't mind," Liara jumped down and went to the mirror, trying to flatten her crest with her hand. "Shiala will make it work!" Benezia and Shiala had locked eyes over Liara's head._

 _"_ _Find her a suitable wig," Benezia had said through her teeth while her daughter preened._

 _"_ _Oh! It is absolutely perfect," Liara cried, pulling the wig onto her head; it was lopsided and stuck off at odd angles._

 _"_ _I am glad you like it, Lady Liara," Shiala replied, eyes dancing. Benezia held the back of her hand over her mouth, tittering._

 _Later, after much convincing that one does not wear their wigs to bed, the two women met in the hallway outside the little girl's bedroom._

 _"_ _Blue, Shiala? You bought her a blue wig?"_

 _"_ _It seemed fitting, Matriarch."_

It was years before Liara realized human hair did not, in fact, come in shades of blue.

 _"_ _Mother, there is no need to-"_

 _"_ _Hush, Liara, the Matriarch will love this story," a glass of wine in hand, dangerously close to spilling over._

 _"_ _I was child-I-oh dear-" she tried not squirm._

 _The tinkering of laughter, "Yes, oh yes, and she even used to wear it to school!"_

 _"_ _Mother, it was phase-" at this point she had usually looked down at her drink and realized it wasn't nearly strong enough._

But there was a part of her – one she wasn't ready to admit - that wanted to reach out and feel the strands between her fingers.

Was it soft or coarse? Would it hurt if she touched it?

Pulled it?

Hypotheses began to form.

The woman's hair was a shade the asari had never seen in person - a vibrant red, the colour of Earth autumn.

She wondered how it would smell.

 _Well that's entirely irrelevant to anything,_ she thought, feeling a purple blush rise up her cheeks.

Heat began to rise.

Then their eyes locked for the first time – blue meeting green – and Liara actually shuddered when she exhaled breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

 _Goddess._

For the first time in her life Liara T'Soni felt- well, she wasn't sure.

But something.


	6. Chapter 6

Shepard didn't believe her luck.

 _Step one: rescue damsel_

 _Step two: learn damsel's name_

 _Step three: fall endlessly into those eyes and convince her to marry me._

Okay, two out of three wasn't bad, but she still had a way to go.

She realized she was standing very close to Liara, close enough to count the trail of freckles on her cheeks.

 _Jesus, she's beautiful,_ Shepard thought, lost in eyes of endless ultramarine. She wants to fall into them and drown. _Literally._

 _Just kill me now and get it over with,_ she thought, _there is no way Vega isn't tapping that._

 _Well you're the one who rescued her, that has to count for something. Right?_

 _Yay. Pity sex,_ she mentally groaned.

Wait, where was Vega? Was this some kind of kinky thing gone wrong? She momentarily considered getting a tutor, if this was what it was all about…

 _She's fully clothed._ She heard Vega's voice in her head, _Lola,_ _I'm good, but I'm not that good._

Jane was brought back to reality by Liara clearing her throat. She took a step back and Jane flinched. _Great, now I'm the weirdo who stands and drools, silently._

"I mean, if you'd rather-" Shepard realized too late she'd missed all of what Liara had said.

"Liara?" She blurted out, "I'm Shepard, err-Jane, Shepard. Shepard's my last name. Uh, Jane, that's my first name…"

"Yes, I'm aware of human naming conventions." Liara looked puzzled for a moment, those beautiful eyes squinting in concern. "I was just saying, you're James' friend, or, um, teammate, correct? I saw you on the pitch," Liara continued.

"Uh, oh, I dunno. Maybe?"

"Yes, you had mud on your face," she smiled, evidently pleased with herself at the correct recollection.

"Oh, ya. Yep. Yep, that was me." Shepard willed the floor to open up, swallow her, and end her misery. Liara noticed Shepard's face was suddenly the same colour as her hair.

"I should go," Shepard said, rubbing her neck again.

"Oh. Sorry. I did not mean to-" Liara dropped her face to the floor.

"No!" Jane reached out her hand and let it linger in the air for a moment before and dropping it to her side. "I just mean I don't think I'm allowed in here, am I?"

Liara blinked at her.

 _This going terribly wrong._

"I was just covered in mud, after all…" Shepard smirked, desperately trying to bring the sinking ship back to shore.

"What? No. I did not mean to –oh dear. I just meant that you seem to be athletic, not the kind of person who... No- that's even worse."  
 _She's adorable,_ Jane thought.

"Hey, it's okay," Shepard said as she reached out and touched Liara on the shoulder. The asari jumped under her hand. "I was only joking."

"Joking? Oh, by the Goddess! How could I be so dense? You must forgive me, I'm not used to, uh, joking with other people."

"I find that hard to believe, Liara, you're captivating."

 _Oh, the way she says my name,_ Liara's heart hammered. _And she must think I am a complete and utter fool._

"Unfortunately, Shepard, you are in the minority there."

 _I never want to hear anyone else say my name every again,_ Shepard thought. She made it her life's goal to draw her name from those blue lips again.

And again, and again. Preferably while Liara was writhing beneath her.

Jane leaned back against a table, crossing her ankles and arms. "So, a Prothean artifact, huh? Your professor actually let you have the keys to this place?" She whistled, low and long, "The librarian still looks at me like I'm going to try and eat the OSDs I sign out."

Liara laughed, clasping her hands behind her back, suddenly not really sure what else to do with them; she had noticed the subtle way Shepard's arms flexed under her jacket.

 _Oh my._

"Well, I'm a very good archaeology student." Shepard caught a coy timbre there, flirtatious even. _My God,_ she thought.

"Actually, I'm doing my Doctorate dissertation work, and I do my part by helping to catalogue these relics while I research."

"Your PhD?" Images of Liara in a plaid skirt, 'Please try and be quiet, this is a library, you naughty girl;' of taking Liara on a desk- bent over the desk, papers and data pads flying…

 _You're terrible._

"Just how old are you, exactly?" Shepard asked, leaning forward.

"Well, I hate to admit it but I'm only 106."

"Oh, is that all?" Shepard drawled, doing the mental math.

Liara blushed that wonderful lilac colour Jane loved and continued, "I am barely considered more than a child, for an asari."

"Well," Shepard uncrossed her arms, coming out of her relaxed position with the dangerous speed of a cat, "in that case, I really should help you get home safely then, no?"

 _Or walk you to that janitor's closet I passed on the way in…_

There was a glint in her eye that disarmed Liara, who drew her hands to her chest as Jane passed. Shepard turned back and noticed the hesitant look on her face,

"I mean, I can walk you home." Whatever winds that had billowed her sails died. She'd made a complete creep of herself in front of this wonderfully awkward, curious creature who had stolen her heart in a matter of moments.

It's okay; she'd strike out with this lovely, shy woman, and walk home with slumped shoulders to look up some decidedly inappropriate vids.

She heard Vaenia was good.

Oh, who the fuck was she kidding? Vaenia was hidden under her mattress.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," Liara guided Jane out of the room, shutting off the light on her way. As they headed down the main staircase, which Shepard noted was a much better route than her own, Liara's hand brushed against hers. They both stopped and avoided eye contact, the air crackling with electricity. Lightning in a bottle.

"I live in the dorm," Liara tried to fill the empty space left behind, her own variation of thunder. Shepard dashed ahead and held the door open, managing to step on Liara's foot as she rushed to fulfill her chivalrous duty.

"Uh, sorry."

"Think nothing of it."

Beat.

"Anyway, it's mostly freshmen of course, but they conceded when they realized how much time I spent here after hours, researching." She pointed to the large glass complex in the distance.

"No trouble. That's the direction of my apartment." It wasn't. "I'm going that way anyway." She wasn't; she's lying.

She's a terrible person, but she can't help it. She had to see Liara smile one more time. To hear her name spill off those lips, one more time.

The walk wasn't long enough. Mostly in silence they strolled through the campus, Jane wished she had the guts to offer Liara her jacket, to drape it over her shoulders.

Jane learns Liara is studying Prothean extinction. Liara learns Jane dropped out of basic but has always regretted it. They both catch themselves falling in love, tidbit at time, raindrop by raindrop. Neither admits it.

They stopped at the door to the residence, facing each other and standing stock-still.

"Well, goodnight." Liara finally said.

"Night."

 _Don't go. Invite me up. Marry me!_

Liara pressed her palm against the sensor pad at the door and it flashed green. She waved and was gone, up the elevator. Shepard stood outside the glass for a long time - long enough to get truly drenched – and watched the spot where Liara had disappeared.

She turned and headed back the way they had come.

From her window Liara saw this strange human called Shepard walk toward the History building and smiled a slow smile.

 _Jane_ she thought, _not just Shepard. Jane Shepard._

"Aren't you pleased with yourself, T'Soni," her roommate threw one white leather clad arm around Liara's shoulder and peeked out the window. She hummed appreciatively at Shepard's retreating form.

Liara turned away from the ledge, "Good evening, Aria," she said, "I think I will get ready for bed."

As she headed to her room Aria took one last look at the human's back, her dark eyes narrowed. "Ya, you do that."

As Shepard shed her wet clothing she left them where they dropped. For once she wished she had a roommate – the apartment echoed as she paced the hall.

The day had been a strange one.

She fell asleep on top of the blankets, thinking about Liara.


	7. Chapter 7

"Professor."

Tevos looked up from the papers on her desk, "Ms. T'Loak." Her eyes stayed on the tall asari leaning against her doorframe, but her hands were busy stacking the tests into a neat pile.

Aria snorted and stepped into the office. The door slid shut with a hiss and she locked it with a flick, the pad turning red.

Tevos made a noise in her throat. There were too many teeth in that smile.

The click of her heeled boots as she strode across the floor sent a shiver up Tevos' spine. Aria stepped around the desk and leaned against it, forcing Tevos to put down her red marking pen and meet her gaze.

Tevos licked her lips and folded her hands in her lap.

"I am very busy right now, Aria, if you would come back later I could arrange for a meeting."

Aria tilted forward, trapping Tevos between her arms, their lips a hair width apart. At the last second Aria changed direction and placed a soft kiss on her neck where it met her jaw, drawing a soft sigh out of her.

"Is that so, Teach?" Aria asked, hot breath against the side of her crest, a liquid gold tongue running along the grooves.

"The papers…" Tevos managed to say, Aria's leather jacket creaking in her ear.

Her colleagues often berated her for using actual paper for her students' test, but she found it was easier to ensure honesty when pen met paper.

"Is one of them mine?" Aria asked and Tevos managed to shake her head, hot skin pressed into Aria's, "Then fuck them."

Aria ran a hand along her face, tracing the white markings with a finger, following them down her neck and over the clingy material of her dress. All she could smell was leather.

She felt her nipple stiffen under Aria's hand and arched into the gloved grip as she moaned something that sounded like her name.  
"I thought it was 'Ms. T'Loak?' "

Tevos shut her up with a hard kiss, covering Aria's hand with her own and wrapping the other around her back, pulling her closer. She titled her head, letting Aria's tongue explore her neck. Tevos ran her hands up Aria's arms, pushing the white leather jacket off her shoulders. It fell to the ground and Aria stepped back, looking down her nose at the professor. She bent over – a little too far, showing off a little too much - and picked it up, folding it into a neat square before she placed it on the desk. She turned back to Tevos; hand on one cocked hip, bare-shouldered and smoldering. Tevos' ran her hand up and down her own thigh, the white stripe that divided her lower lip between her teeth.

Aria slowly walked around the chair and slid in behind her, those strong hands returning to her breasts, kneading them hard. She felt bites along her neck, could hear Aria's breath hitch as she drew up the hem of her dress and guided Aria's hand along her inner thigh and into her wetness.

A smile cracked her self-assured features as she leaned her head back onto a purple shoulder. Aria had her eyes closed and Tevos felt a pang of adoration; the perpetual scowl was wiped from that angular face - the square jaw relaxed instead of clenched, brows lifted up in surrender.

"You're not as bad-tempered as you lead them all to think, Ms. T'Loak," she whispered as she turned her head to waiting lips.

"And you're not nearly as composed when you're screaming my name," Aria replied as she entered her, body and mind, with a suddenness that pulled a cry from Tevos' throat, eyes black with desire.

Grasping at curling heat, Aria was relentless and when Tevos came with a frantic, high-pitched moan Aria cried out behind her and bucked against her leather pants, desperate for friction.

Her body still trembling, Tevos was swept up in Aria's arms and slammed against the surface of the desk, Aria's head worked between her legs as she tore at her own pants. She tucked Aria's jacket under her head as plum thighs came crashing down on either side of her face, Tevos' hands clutching at pounding hips. Aria began to shake almost immediately and went still with a silent howl to the ceiling. As they both slid off the desk Tevos pulled down her dress, smoothed out the lines, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"We need to stop doing this."

Aria turned to her, her eyes fading back to violet as she deftly fastened her pants and pulled on her jacket. The scowl was back.

"You didn't seem to mind doing _this_ ," she replied, popping her collar and slumping into Tevos' chair, legs and arms crossed.

"I am your professor, Aria, we can't continue to sneak around. I am going to lose my job," she was bent, grabbing papers from the floor, straightening and stacking them in her hands. She made a move to place them on her desk before thinking better of it and walking them to a shelf, where they dropped with an audible thud in the silence of the room. "Don't you agree?"

"I'm not a child, Thea," Aria replied, flicking dust off her sleeve, "We are both adults here, who happen to have a…"

 _Relationship,_ Tevos thought.

"…Arrangement," Aria continued, noticing the far away look in her lover's eye, "One I happen to like, very much."

"Then start acting like an adult," Tevos shot back, hands braced on the desk, "Stop strutting around this campus doing illicit things –" Aria looked up, the unflappable queen no more. "-Yes, I know about all your little 'projects'. What are you doing here, Aria? What are we doing? You barely take your classes seriously, I know you don't take _me_ seriously, so why would I risk my career for-" she waved her hand around the office, to the remaining strewn papers, the smug asari in her chair, "-this?"

Aria sneered, standing and stalking around the desk, close enough to Tevos to see the flecks in her green eyes, "Your career? That's a laugh. You're not a General, or a politician, Tevos. You're a teacher. One who has been involved in a certain _illicit activity_ for quite some time."

"Aria, why are you even here, with me?"

She threw her hands up, "Fuck it. you're right, I'm sick of this bureaucratic hellhole anyway," she narrowed her eyes, "and if I have to listen to your sad-sap bullshit one more time I'm going to turn us in myself. You'll lose your precious job, but all I'm going to lose is a terrible lay."

Tevos straightened her spine and pressed her lips into a thin line, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "Get out of my office."

"If I do, I'm not coming back. Don't fuck with Aria, Teach."

"Get. Out." Tevos turned her back to Aria and shuffled papers around her desk until she heard the door slide shut and that familiar click fading away, then she sat and put her face in her hands and wept.

Aria stalked out of the Poli Sci building, shoving a rasping volus student out of her way as she went. Snakes coiled in her stomach and her nostrils flared as she stomped her way through campus. She saw red, no, beyond red – she saw white.

All she really wanted to see was purple.

She wanted to take it all back; she wanted to hurt Tevos. She wanted to set fire to the first person who looked at her crossways; she wanted to pick those wild flowers and go back on hand and knee, _forgive me. I don't want this to end._

 _I'll drop out, I'll stop selling drugs, just take me back._

 _I can't live without you._

"Fuck her." She said aloud. She shot daggers at a teal skinned asari that dared to smile at her on the path. Her smile faltered and she mumbled _bitch_ , under her breath.

Aria was on her in a moment, her arm pressed against her neck as she held her up on the wall; she dropped her books in the mud.

"Try me, beautiful, go ahead." She hissed, teeth barred.

"Hey, hey, what's going on here?" Came a voice from her right.

"Who are you, the Queen of the Fucking Girl Scouts?"

"Let her go."

She looked out of the corner of her eye, "You're Shepard, aren't you?" Shepard grabbed Aria's shoulder and Aria spun on her, letting the girl scurry away.

"Get your hands off me," she glared, grabbing Shepard's arm and twisting it behind her back.

"You'll be damned lucky if she doesn't find campus security and report you, you know." Shepard said, not flinching, not trying to break free.

Aria laughed and rolled her eyes, letting her arm go and brushing off the sleeves of her jacket. "Ooo, campus police. I'm shaking…" She looked at this Jane Shepard, the woman who had her poor virginal roommate in a tizzy. "You're serious, aren't you?" She noticed Shepard clenching and unclenching her fist, made a mental note to duck any punches manually - to _not_ kill the human with biotics. Her roommate would be very cross.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Shepard met Aria's gaze with an intensity the asari wasn't used to and she felt a sudden burst of anger at Tevos, of all people.

Tevos was noble, Tevos had morals, Tevos had hated her - what had she called them? - Illicit activities? Would have stepped in to intervene. Tevos had the same killer hips.

The corner of Aria's mouth turned up in a smirk. "Come on, Girl Scout, let's go grab a drink."


	8. Chapter 8

Liara went from task to task in a fog, her eyes simultaneously searching for that familiar red hair and trying to avoid eye contact with everyone lest they be Shepard.

 _Get a grip, Liara, it's been a week, you haven't seen her, she's forgotten about you._

On the other hand, Shepard had lingered outside her door, had been very interested in her very dull PhD research, had saved her from her – uh – embarrassing predicament; all those signs pointed to interest, did they not?

 _Maybe she was a hallucination; maybe you really did spend all weekend in that bubble, maybe you're losing your mind._

Now, cataloging the same artifact that had brought them together she sighed and – carefully – put the stonework piece down, resigning her thoughts to those green eyes, the strong hands that had caught her, and the hair she still wanted to pull.

 _Goddess, Liara, get a hold of yourself_.

"There's one logical solution to this," she said to herself as she fiddled with her wrist.

 _A very simple, terrifying, solution._

She brought her Omni-tool to life and punched in her contact for James Vega.

"Mr. Vega," she squeaked as James' voice chimed out a hello, "Would you be so kind as to do me a favour?"

During her entire college career Shepard hadn't spent as much time lingering on campus as she had for the past week. She hung around the History building between classes, she ate every meal in the cafeteria, and she even attended a few open archaeology lectures after her skyball practices, hoping to spot that familiar shade of blue.

Unfortunately for her, there was a lot of blue on Thessia.

She refused to cave, keeping tight-lipped about her encounter, hadn't even told James what had happened after practice that night.

Not that he forgot her initial dumfounded awe.

"Lola, come on, let me set you up. Look, I have her number right here," Vega huffed, keeping pace with Shepard on the track.

"Whose number, James?" She replied, feigning innocence but turning red.

"The Doc's number, you love-sick puta." He dodged a half-hearted punch.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she yelled back to him, pulling ahead and flashing him the finger.

"I see you hanging around all day, hoping to get a glimpse of those blue eyes!" He called, "Dios, she _can_ run…" He sprinted after her.

On the seventh day she was lounging on a bench that simply happened to be on the path to Liara's residence when she saw a glowering, purple skinned asari with strange half-moon markings stomp down the lane, practically shoving students as she went. Dressed in a black corset and pants, and a white and red leather jacket she struck one hell of a figure. The black-heeled boots had Shep raising an eyebrow in interest.

 _She's got legs for days._ She thought, standing and following the path the asari took, deciding she might as well grab a bite to eat while she stalked-err-loitered.

 _Loitered. You're not a stalker. Or a criminal._

 _You simply broke into a building and now practically sleep here…_

Her rambling thoughts were broken by a scuffle by the wall to her left, one involving a recognizable white leather jacket. She ran over and grabbed the asari's shoulder, side stepping as she went, attempting to circumvent any more physical alterations for the day; this plan was foiled by her arm being deftly twisted, the snarling woman suddenly behind her, tearing open her hand wound.

 _Damn, she moves like a dancer,_ she found herself thinking as she balled her fist to stop the slow leak of blood, _this girl could hurt me._

 _You might like it._

"Come on, Girl Scout, let's go grab a drink."

The campus pub, Afterlife, was dark and cramped, once a small classroom, now a catchall for booze, coffee, Thessian tea, and snack food. The ancient decor was in stark contrast to the sleek, metallic and stone of the rest of the campus; scuffed floors, honest-to-god wooden tables, dim café lighting - a mirror over the cantina area was the only bright spot, reflecting the day into the space. There were only three other people in the place.

The woman behind the counter was just as out-of-place. Rail thin, shaved head, covered in tattoos, Shepard instantly liked her – and was a little afraid.

"Shepard, meet Jack – Jack, meet Shepard."

"Hello," she extended her hand to Jack, who looked at it and back up at Shepard without taking it.

"You're shitting me, right Aria? Where's your pet Professor?"

"Shut up," Aria shot her a cold look and Jack actually withered. It was barely noticeable; Jane thought that not many people could have that effect on her.

"How do you know my name?" Shepard turned to Aria, voicing the question that had been brewing in her head since they had met.

"Well, you're on the skyball team," Aria replied, shrugging and turning back to the cash area and Jack.

"How's business?" Aria leaned on the counter, tilting her head to Jack while Shepard shuffled from foot to foot. _I should go,_ she thought, but then Jack passed her a beer.

Aria took an espresso and some kind of green shot. She clinked the shot to Shepard's glass and downed it, then sipped the coffee; the juxtaposition of her mannerisms made Shepard tingle, tap dancers on her spine. She gulped.

"Go on, Girl Scout, it's decent stuff. Not top shelf but, hell, it's on the house-"

"Well, it's on Aria," Jack corrected, "and I didn't poison it, Jesus, drink."

As Jane took a swig and nodded at her glass – it was good – Aria turned back to Jack, "So, how is business?"

"Booming, here," she ducked under the counter and brought out a credit chit, handing it to the asari. "Your cut this week, and the leftovers," she pushed a bag of a powdered red substance to Aria, who tucked it in her jacket. Shepard tried not to choke on her drink, _holy shit._ She held her beer in a vice grip, smudging blood on the glass.

"What?" Aria said, raising her brow, those half moon markings elongating.

"Nothing," she answered, downing the rest of her drink and placing the glass on the counter, digging in her pocket for her own chit.

"Don't worry about it," Aria waved her gloved hand, but Shepard didn't back down. She knew better than to accept favours from drug dealers.

"Don't insult my hospitality, Shepard," Aria drawled, locking eyes with the human.

"Holy shit, you're bleeding all over my fucking bar," Jack broke the moment, _whatever moment that was,_ she thought.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, sports injury. Nothing serious; nothing impressive even," she held up her hand, "your friend here just ripped it open with a little dance move earlier."

Aria grabbed her hand and for a moment Shepard thought she was going to lick the blood off her palm.

"I don't often employ violence, Shepard," she almost whispered, "hmmm." She turned Shepard's hand around in her own, those watery eyes flitting from her cut to her blushing face. "Thanks for the drink, Jack, we're going to leave and I'm going to take care of poor Shepard here." Jack waved an arm in dismissal as Aria marched Shepard out of the door and into the daylight.

"So, I should go," Shepard said, trying to guide herself out of Aria's grip.

"No, I repay my debts, and you stopped me from doing something very stupid." Each word this asari spoke as annunciated, dripping with crisp confidence, Shepard thought, as she let herself be led towards the residence. She was so different than Liara, but equally alluring. _I could climb her like a tree,_ she thought. "So I am going to fix your hand." As they walked through the residence door Shepard looked left and right for Liara, hoping that she would finally come face to face with the young asari.

 _Be careful what you wish for, Shep - just look at this one's cleavage._

 _Shut up James._

Liara was pacing the artifact room, having punched in the first six digits of Jane Shepard's contact number at least four times, hesitating and closing her Omni-tool before the seventh. She sat down at the table and began taking notes on a Prothean disc and before long she was lost in her work. It was almost dark when she looked up again, tapping her pen against her chin. She made one final note and crated the find, packing up and opening her Omni-tool to make a calendar item for herself. On impulse she dialed Shepard's number – all of it – and let it ring.

It rang several times and Liara sighed, letting it go to voicemail.

"Uh, hello, Shepard – Jane – it's Liara T'Soni, um, we met- well, you know how we met." Liara blushed purple and continued, "I was just calling to say hello, um, I hadn't had a chance to thank you for- well, if you wouldn't mind calling me back my contact is sent over. Okay, bye," she ended the recording and thanked the Goddess she chose a voice message and not a vid. She pushed the option to forward her information along and deactivated her Omni-tool as she headed into the dusk.


	9. Chapter 9

"So, drugs huh?" Shepard asked, sitting on the edge of Aria's bed, the asari busy in her ensuite, grabbing medical supplies. She appeared in the doorframe and shot Shepard an amused look. "How did you get into that?"

"Well that's as privileged as information gets, and I don't know you nearly well enough to tell you that," she said, kicking off her boots and walking barefoot across the floor. "Short answer, mind your own damned business," she grabbed Shepard's still-bleeding palm and unwrapped the bandage she had applied. "Now, I'm guessing you don't have any medi-gel, didn't apply any?" Shepard made a non-committal noise, rubbing the back of her neck with her uninjured hand.

Aria squeezed the tube onto her hand and she felt a stinging hotness followed by an overwhelming cooling sensation. Aria ran her thumb over the closing wound and Shepard shivered.

She didn't think it had anything to do with the medi-gel.

"Drink, Shepard?" She asked, holding up her drained glass. They had shared a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy, Shepard's first, and it had gone down well. So well in fact it had begun to grow dark before they had even tended to her injury.

"Sure, why not."

She followed Aria out into the kitchen and wandered around the small apartment. Barely more than a room, the door opened into a hallway, shared kitchen, and living room. Two doors fanned out into Aria's room, and one that must've been her absent roommate's; it reminded Jane of an aircraft.

She ran her hand over the well-stocked bookshelf, each datapad had a labeled spine, but they were all in an asari language she couldn't read. There were old rocks and obsidian coloured statuettes decorating the shelves. Before Shepard could open a datapad and translate she heard the clink of glasses being set on the small coffee table.

Aria was lounging on the plush red leather couch, at odds with the artifacts, books, and other worldly items. She patted the spot next to her and Shepard slid the tablet back into its place and sat, picking up her drink and taking a sip.

"Jesus, what is this?" She sputtered, resisting the urge to claw at her tongue.

"Ryncol," Aria laughed and downed hers, placing her glass on the table and letting her hand rest on Shepard's thigh. Jane looked at her glass, then down at Aria's hand, breathing deeply. Aria lifted her hand and took Shepard's in it; turning it over and looking at the spot where the cut had been, "healed." She looked at Shepard's face, "it looks nice." Shepard swallowed hard and took her hand back, rubbing it over her neck.

"That's cute," Aria nodded, "that little tell."

"Uh, I think I'm going to go," she said, making a move to stand.

 _This chick…_

Aria moved like water, she was straddling Shepard before she knew what was happening.

"I can see you're drawn to me, Shepard, but it makes you uncomfortable," she wiggled closer, their bodies pressed close. "Who else is in that spinning mind of yours, I wonder?" Jane didn't answer, simply removed her hand from the back of her neck.

"So, Shepard," she drawled, "what do you study here?" Aria ran one finger along her jaw, up to her earlobe. "Politics?" She leaned in closer, tugging her ear in punctuation. "Art?" She grabbed Shepard's hands and ran her own over them, "no, your hands are too rough." Shepard rested her hands on Aria's thighs, unsure where else to put them- knowing exactly where she wanted to put them. Aria placed hers over them and began to run both sets up and down the leather. She tilted them inward and Shepard could feel her heat through the fabric. "Please, tell me, if I'm… getting close."

"Galactic History," she choked out.

"Hmmm."

Aria slipped Shepard's shirt up over her flat stomach and Shepard whimpered as she stripped off her gloves with her teeth. She ran purple hands up along the human's ribs, under her shirt, and Shepard leaned back into the couch, inadvertently raising her hips to meet Aria's. Aria took a deep breath through her nose and met Shepard's eyes. Those pale eyes were something.

 _Not Liara something,_ she thought, _but something._ She shook it away.

The friction of their hips meeting nearly undid Shepard. It was maddening and terrible and wonderful and she was wet. She let out a moan and in that instant she knew was done for, this severe asari was going to reduce her to a quivering puddle without even removing her clothing. All thoughts of leaving, well, left.

Aria leaned forward and took her in a searing kiss, all teeth and tongues; she tasted the sharp Ryncol and the sweet brandy, and under it something distinctly Aria – _gunpowder and nutmeg_ , she thought absently. _Steel and cinnamon._

Aria took her bottom lip between her teeth and almost drew blood with her fierceness, grasping both sides of Shepard's face with her hands. Shepard wrapped her arms around her and ran them down her back, up under the hem of her corset, and grasped her ass in her palms, squeezing, feeling Aria's moan through their kiss.

Aria tilted back, and began to undo the clasps on her corset, smacking Shepard's hands away when she tried to assist; Shepard grabbed her hips instead and Aria began to rotate them slowly, grinding their pelvises together.

Shepard looked down to where their bodies met and felt fire in the pit of stomach, the rise of desire. She wanted to see all of her, wanted her hot skin against her own.

As the corset fell open Aria grabbed her own breasts and crushed them with her hands, before dropping them with a bounce and peeling Shepard's shirt off her back. Shepard struggled out of it and lowered her head to a dark purple nipple, flicking it with her tongue. Aria surged forward and hissed, fisting Shepard's hair in encouragement.

As Shepard switched to the left breast Aria's hand flew between where their bodies pressed together and rubbed the seam of her jeans, rough enough to feel hot damp, and Jane bucked up into the touch as she kissed her way up the asari's chest, nibbling on her neck and tracing the jagged purple marking on Aria's cheek.

They rolled their hips in tandem, gasping into each other's mouths as they met again, and Aria let out surprised laugh, swollen lips parting, as Shepard lifted her in her arms and laid her on the couch, licking her way back down her neck, chest and stomach.

Aria wrapped her legs around Shepard's and swayed forward, hands on Shepard's shoulders, using her momentum to rock them upright before pinning Shepard under her. Shepard wished she had removed her pants, wanted to feel Aria's wetness on her stomach.

As she ran her hands along the asari's muscled abdomen Shepard tried to sit up and take one of those heavy breasts in her mouth, but Aria slammed her shoulders back down on the couch, rubbing Jane's stiffening nipples in circles through the fabric of her bra. She looked down with hooded eyes and nimbly stepped out of her position, holding one hand out to Shepard.

"Come."

She wasn't sure if it was an order or a request, but she obeyed, letting Aria lead her down the hallway, one hand in her own, the other trailing against the wall.

Aria dragged her into her room, kicking the door closed behind her and shoving her onto the bed with a surge of blue biotics. She stripped off her jacket and draped it over the back of her desk chair; she let her corset fall to the floor with a shrug of her shoulders. Shepard ached run her tongue over those collarbones. Stepping out of her pants Shepard saw she was wearing nothing under them; it was her turn to worry her bottom lip with her teeth. She removed her Omni-tool from her wrist and placed it on the bedside table.

Aria turned and flicked on music; something with swelling strings and a heavy kick, the beat seemed to be in time with the throbbing between Shepard's legs.

Reclining on the bed shirtless, she watched as Aria sauntered across the room, her dark skin highlighted by the streetlamps outside. Aria bumped out her hips in time with the music as she came closer and Shepard could see the glare of slickness between her legs. Her mouth both salivated and became very dry in the same instant.

Shepard looked down the bed at Aria, who had begun to undo her belt with tantalizingly slow hand movements. She lifted her hips as Aria dragged her belt through the loops, and her mouth dropped open as she began to pull it back and forth between her own legs; it was about the most erotic thing Shepard had ever seen. Dropping the belt, she grabbed Shepard's jeans and removed them with the same 2 slowness, leaving her white cotton underwear and bra.

She climbed onto the bed with the movements of a cat, dark tendrils beginning to swallow the colour of her eyes, and ran her hands up Jane's stomach, who trembled and let out a long groan as Aria dragged the flat of her tongue up the inside of her thighs, over the soaked spot on her panties.

" _Ah_ …"

Aria looked up at her and drew them down over thigh, knee, and feet, and Shepard broke out in goosebumps.

Purple skin flushed, Aria dropped her head between Shepard's legs and placed kisses and bites along the top of her pubic bone, down her right leg and up the left one. She finally dipped her tongue into the enflamed centre of Shepard, who thrust her hips up with a cry and grabbed the back of Aria's crest.

"Ohhh, fuck-"

"That's the idea," Aria said when she removed her mouth, kissing her way up her stomach. Shepard sat up and unhooked her bra as Aria climbed into her lap, long legs wrapped around her back. As she threw it off the bed Aria grabbed her breasts and leaned into her neck, sucking gently on her earlobe, "touch me, Jane," she breathed against her head. "Fuck me."

It was the use of her name that unraveled her. A pale hand shot between Aria's legs as she took her mouth in a searing kiss, dipping her tongue past her lips, tasting herself on them. Aria crashed into her at the same moment, eyes black, mouth parted, and they rocked back and forth on each other, all sighs and moans, biotics flaring around them. Shepard's Omni-tool buzzed, forgotten, next to the lamp.

Soon it wasn't enough and Aria untangled herself from her lap, straddling her hips as Shepard reclined on the pillows. She lowered herself slowly onto Shepard's outstretched hand, purring loudly in her throat as she took her in. She rocked back and forth, rotating her hips, and Shepard could feel silky heat around her fingers, could see breasts bouncing, could smell their combined arousal in the air. Aria leaned back, bracing her weight on her arms, and as her movements became wilder Shepard's other hand shot between her own legs, making up for the loss of the asari's.

Not to be outdone, Aria inclined forward and brought her mouth back to Shepard's, biting down on her lower lip and pulling it back with her teeth as she pushed her long fingers into her Jane, matching her own rocking movements with each thrust.

"Look at me," Aria panted.

"Aria, please… _ah_ , yes…"

"Don't stop, don't you dare stop-"

Foreheads together, they locked eyes, a fine sheen of sweat covering their bodies. Shepard felt Aria tremor around her fingers - knew she was on the edge - and curled them inside her. Aria bowed backwards, back arching and going still as she swore loudly in Asari; Shepard fell over the edge with her, clenching around her hand, hips coming off the bed with a scream. They collapsed into each other and Aria rested her head on Shepard's chest while she gasped, trying to catch her breath. She rolled off her and into the crook of her arm, which Shepard wrapped around her shoulder, tracing a finger along her collarbone.

"Where are my pants?" Shepard finally said, looking around. Aria raised her brow but reached down to her right and grabbed them, tossing them over Jane's face.

She reached into the pocket and pulled out her cigarette pack and lighter, holding it out for Aria. "Smoke?"


	10. Chapter 10

Liara felt her Omni-tool buzz and answered it before the second ring could start.

 _Shepard,_ she thought, smiling broadly.

"Liara, hello," a sharp accent cut the air and Liara screwed up her face, "sorry, were you expecting someone else?"

Miranda Lawson was a dark-haired beauty: perfect body, pert breasts, genius IQ – especially by human standards – quick witted, and outgoing; the complete opposite of Liara. Despite it all, they had struck up an unlikely friendship during their undergraduate studies, during a group session that had seen the two go-getters knocking heads.

"Miranda, sorry, no," she smiled, "what can I do for you?"

"I'm heading down to Afterlife to take in the Coffee House, boys with guitars, you know, right up my alley," she smiled sideways at Liara, "want to join?"

"No thank you, I really should catch up on some data compiling tonight," Liara replied, looking down at the holographic face on her wrist.

"Oh, spoil sport. Okay, talk to you later Liara."

Liara unlocked the residence apartment door and it slid open with some difficulty. She made a mental note to remind Aria to put in a request to get it calibrated, knowing she should just do it herself; Aria wasn't the most reliable roommate. Or the friendliest, come to think of it.

Liara wasn't stupid, she was a very good scientist, and with that came the ability to gather subtle facts - clues into a person's character. She knew very well what her roommate did to pay the bills, but Aria had never brought her 'work' home with her, so to speak, nor had any friends visit, save the occasional overnight guest, or that bartender with the strange haircut. She was clean and let Liara decorate as she saw fit, _except that damned couch,_ she thought, and they had formed a bond of sorts; strange bedfellows.

"Looks like she's not alone tonight," Liara muttered, dropping her messenger bag on the coffee table with her stack of mail. She picked up a green tank top, definitely not Aria's style, and folded it absentmindedly, laying it carefully on the couch. It smelled of cedar and some fruity perfume; and faintly of cigarette smoke, combined it was a smell that pricked at the back of Liara's brain, familiar but vague.

She heard muffled laughter from Aria's room and frowned, wrapping her arms around herself. It all made her highly uncomfortable.

She decided a night in wasn't exactly going to be as relaxing as she thought and stalked up the hall, deciding to take Miranda up on her offer after all. As she passed Aria's room she got a whiff of acrid cigarettes, fresh, not the dull grey smell of old smoke.

Aria had _one_ bad habit, one that infuriated Liara to all ends; she smoked in the apartment. _Enough,_ she thought, _this is my home too, enough of this._

She didn't knock, she didn't call out, she just threw open the old-fashioned, hinged door in a huff, slamming it against the wall.

"Aria, how many times have I asked you not to smoke in-" she stopped, her mouth popping open into a perfect ' _O'_.

Aria pulled the crumpled sheets up over the prone body next to her, a moment too late to hide her identity. She let own body remain exposed as she stretched, slowly, her breasts on display as she did.

Liara felt her stomach hit her boots, felt an unbearable sear, jagged through her chest.

"Well hello, Blue, would you like to join us, or is there another reason you came stomping in here uninvited?" She stubbed her cigarette out and leaned up and off Shepard's chest.

Shepard stared at the figure in the doorway, her face pinching into a mask of pain, heart sinking.

 _Are you fucking kidding me?_

"I should go," Jane said, gulping.

"Shepard," Liara said through a tongue that seemed too big for her mouth, unable to meet Aria's eye. She nodded curtly at her, nostrils flared, blue eyes wide.

"Oh, do you know each other?" Aria asked, sweetly, cocking her head to one side.

"Jesus." Shepard mumbled, trying to pull on her pants under the sheet, her face fallen and pale. Liara slowly lowered her eyes, not out of modesty but because she was afraid she would cry if she had to look at the scene in front of her for any longer. She saw a pair of white cotton panties at her feet and choked back a sob, wringing her hands together.

"Liara," Shepard said, rising from the bed. Liara looked over to her, and turned a dark purple; Jane quickly crossed her arms across her chest – this was decidedly _not_ the way she had imagined Liara seeing her naked for the first time. "I-"

"Shepard, be with whoever you want to be with," she muttered, eyes downcast, "just… my own home." She turned away, wiping tears and clearing her throat. "However, I do not believe our one and only encounter entitles me to any of these reactions, I am sorry, I-"

"Liara-"

On the bed, Aria smirked, mouthing 'encounter' silently, rolling her eyes.

"I'm going to go," Shepard said, gathering her bra and socks, and pushing her way past Liara, pausing as she reached out to touch her arm. She couldn't bring herself to finish the connection.

She found her shirt folded almost lovingly on the couch and her heart spiderwebbed, shattered outward.

 _Oh you fucked this up, Shep,_ she thought, hollow and filled to the brim with tears that wouldn't come. She practically ran out of the apartment.

Back in the bedroom Liara began to pace, eyes on the smug asari in the bed.

"How could you?" She finally asked, glaring at Aria, who had begun to dress.

"How could I what, Blue? Run my hands all over that naked body? Make her scream my name?"

She felt sick. A vid began to play on loop in her head - Aria and Shepard writhing naked on her couch, Aria pulling that hair, Shepard's strong hands on Aria's most intimate places.

Liara's biotics flared, wisps of blue surrounding her like an angry sea, "You knew I liked her," she shouted, not caring how juvenile it sounded. "My feelings are not here for you to experiment on, why would you do this?"

"I take what I want, Blue, it's nothing personal," Aria finished clasping her corset and shoved Liara aside, grabbing her jacket.

"I have a name," Liara screamed, "it's Liara T'Soni, and I'd appreciate you using it from now on," her breath came in ragged gulps and she advanced on Aria, who glared, "No. You're not worth it. There's been enough heartache today."

Liara turned to leave, biotics flickering out, when Aria threw Shepard's belt at her, giving her barely enough time to catch it. "Here, give this to her when you see her, which I'm sure you will." She drawled, "At least, I'd recommend you do – the way that woman's fingers work, how she tastes; you won't know what hit you, Li-ar-a."

Liara stopped in her tracks, shoulders slumped, and she began to cry, harsh, angry sobs. "Why are you being so cruel?"

"That is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard," Aria replied, following her.

"Why? What could I have possibly done to you?"

"This is not about you, per say, Blue. It's just the way the world rotates. It burns you when you open yourself up too much," Aria lit another cigarette and blew the smoke out the open living room window. "There's not such thing as a free ride, no one stays, if you get too comfortable, if you forget, someone will remind you."

Liara stared, not caring about the cigarette, not caring about her own heart, but instead felt a dawning realization that this asari, her fierce roommate, had gone dim inside. This hadn't been malicious, and though she still wanted to flay her alive, she felt something for her.

 _Sympathy? No Liara, don't back down so quickly, she ruined everything._

 _And why not back down?_ She asked herself, _I'm not like her, but we're both broken now. We're in the same boat._

"Who broke your heart, Aria?" She asked, and Aria snapped her neck back to face her, "who did you really want to hurt with this?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she replied, flicking the butt out the window. "Now, go after your little girlfriend,"

"No, I won't be doing that, you've ruined that for me, Aria. You've _reminded me_ of that."

"If you say so, Blue."

Liara stalked to her room and Aria called after her, "T'Soni. How things begin isn't nearly as important as how they end. Remember that."

Once outside Shepard leaned her head back against the wall, staring up at the sky, and pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers - she could still smell Aria on them.

 _You fucking idiot. You stupid fucking fuck. Jesus Christ!_

She spun and slammed her fist into the stone with a roar, then collapsed in on herself, crouching into a ball, silent tears falling as her hand, once more, dripped blood.


	11. Chapter 11

Shepard sat down at her piano and began to play; tears fell onto the ivory keys.

She had showered, had scrubbed her skin raw ridding it of Aria's smell, but no amount of hot water could cleanse her conscious. She felt a brick of cold hatred for herself as she wiped the condensation off her mirror, looking herself in the eye. Once she had toweled her hair she opened the tube of medi-gel to apply it to her bloodied knuckles, but had thrown it across the room instead, sitting on the toilet seat, naked and still damp.

 _Let it hurt,_ she thought, _let them be a reminder._

If only she could apply medi-gel to her bruised heart.

But she couldn't, so she sat on the piano bench, bent over the keys like a knobby old man, and composed.

 _*in my AO3 version there is a link to the Mass Effect soundtrack, Liara's Theme here to listen*_

The rain hit her windows and kaleidoscoped the nightlife of Thessia across her living room. Long fingers poured all the hurt she felt, all the hurt she had caused, into the lilting melody, stopping occasionally to make an adjustment to her quickly filling sheet music.

When she was done she scribbled a note on the top: _Liara's_.

She activated her Omni-tool to record the piece, to send it to Liara – not for forgiveness, but just because it felt right – when Jane saw the blinking light of her voicemail.

"…I was just calling to say hello, um, I hadn't had a chance to thank you for- well, if you wouldn't mind calling me back my contact is sent over. Okay, bye."

Her heart sunk anew and she closed her Omni-tool without sending a reply or the song. She didn't deserve a second chance, and Liara didn't need any reminders of her.

She slammed the cover down.

Winter came silently. Practices were moved inside; papers were written, rewritten and graded; midterms were passed and failed; exams were stressed over; and finally the holidays came, falling upon the campus like a twin to the blanket of snow, quietly and completely.

Shepard was stretched out on her bed wearing a lacey black bra and underwear set, her hair fanned out on the pillow. Aria was sitting up against the headboard, smoking a cigarette and flipping through Shepard's old comic books. The asari was in similar state of undress, as she often was when in Jane's company. They had taken to spending their time at Shepard's apartment, claiming the bigger bed was much nicer, but they both knew the real reason.

Shepard hadn't properly laid eyes on Liara since the night at her residence, had buried the song between the pages of an old book and tried to forget.

 _"_ _What did you do?" James had cornered her outside the history class they both attended, "what did you do to her?"_

 _Jane had panicked, stood against the wall and shrugged, shaking her head._

 _"_ _She won't even look me in the eye, she showed up at my place with puffy purple eyes, Shepard; what did you do?"_

 _"_ _I fucked up, Vega."_

Aria had shown up at her door three days after they had met, wearing a long coat and nothing under it; she seemed just as surprised as Jane when it had become a regular thing.

 _"_ _We're not in a relationship," she had said lying in bed a few weeks later._

 _"_ _I know," Shepard had replied, staring at the ceiling._

 _"_ _We're just passing time, and I mean, you're great in bed, I know I'm great in bed, so…"_

 _"_ _Naturally…"_

Shepard suspected Aria didn't tell Liara were she was disappearing to, but she also had a suspicion Liara knew anyway. The few times she had glimpsed the back of her head in the hallways it had been scurrying in the opposite direction.

The nights she spent alone she found herself thinking about that blue head, not about Aria. Not that she was about to kick the asari out of her bed; they seemed to need each other somehow, both seemed to toe the unspoken line of _this_ _will never be love and we know it_ , _I know you're a million miles away, but fuck it, let's screw_.

 _You scratch my back; I'll nurse your heartache._

Shepard also thought her consort was hiding something, what she hadn't figured out. Often, after Jane had been noodling on her guitar, Aria would grab her hand, rubbing her scared knuckles with a far-away look in her eyes.

Aria slid into her lap and gave her a long, slow kiss, then got out of bed, "You taking off?" Jane asked, sitting up and calling after her as she went into the hallway.

"No," the sound of running water. "Are you trying to get rid of me, Shepard?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, T'Loak," she heard the opening the fridge door and the clatter of various kitchen objects – a plate or bowl, she thought, and the utensil drawer; _yep, that's the kettle -_ then the soft pad of feet across the living room, where the noises ceased for a while. Aria came back into the room carrying a plate of Thessian fruit that Shepard still didn't know the name of, but bought every time she went for groceries, an old book, and a mug of the native tea Shepard had stocked her cupboards with since she had started staying the night. She put the tea on the nightstand but the fruit in the middle of the bed, straddling Shepard and popping a segment into her mouth. She licked the juice off her lips.

 _Jesus, everything she does is so fucking naughty,_ Shepard thought, grinning like a lunatic.

Aria climbed off her and sat with her shoulder pressed against Jane's, opening the book _._

"You're a complicated creature," Shepard laughed, "a drug-dealing Dickens fan," Aria shot her a confused look, "the author."

They sat in silence, eating orange fruit and watching the snow fall. Aria read _A Christmas Carol_ slowly, translating each page into her native language with her Omni-tool. She looked over at Jane and caught her eye, "a professor told me about this book once," she said, closing it and scooting down the headboard, adjusting one of Shepard's pillows to account for her crest. Jane pressed her body close, kissing her before rolling on top.

Aria made a barely audible noise and reached under her back, digging out the book. Jane grabbed it from her and was about to put it on the floor when a loose page fluttered out. Aria took it off the bed and read it with narrowed eyes.

"Play it for me." She said, shoving Jane off her, gently for Aria. She held one hand out for the book, the other to her they walked to the living room.

Shepard sat at the bench as Aria placed the sheet music on the piano. She looked up at Aria, who stood over her shoulder – she nodded once and Jane began to play.

When the short piece was done she stared down at her hands, not sure what else to do, until she felt Aria's weight on the stool next to her.

"You love her, don't you?" Shepard looked at her,

"I don't know… yes."

Aria pursed her lips and stared at her for a long time, turning _A Christmas Carol_ over in her hands before sighing, "alright then, let's go get drunk. Get your bony human ass dressed." As Jane stood Aria grabbed her arm and pulled her down, kissing her.

It was gentle and soft, and felt like goodbye.

The tea sat, going slowly cold.


	12. Chapter 12

Liara declined her parent's invite to spend the holidays at their country estate with a polite message. Too much to do, she had said, couldn't possibly pass up the opportunity to research when the campus was so quiet. In truth, she knew the moment they took one look at her they would just know her light had gone out.

Her father had called exactly three minutes after the message was sent.

"Hey babe, so you're too good to come visit your parents now, that it?"

Liara heard her mother in the background, "The, is that Liara? Say hello for me, tell her Tianna S'Raj has been asking for her."

"Your mom says hi, kiddo. That stuck-up princess you used to bum around with has been showing off her cleavage at parties, asking if you're single."

"Hi, Dad."

"What's up with your face?"  
"Goddess, Father, nothing," Liara deactivated the video portion of the call.

"Hey! Athame's tits, Liara. I'm a thousand years old. I've known you your whole life; don't tell me that nothing is wrong." Liara was silent for a moment, unsure how much to tell Aethyta; the last thing she needed was for her parents to send a cohort of Asari commandos after Shepard. Or Aria, for that matter.

"There is a girl," she began, biting her lip and sitting down on her bed, "a human. She's-well, I don't know, Dad, it's nothing."

"Hear that, Nezzy?" Aethyta called out, making Liara flinch, "our baby bird is in love."

"I absolutely am not," she mumbled.

"That's lovely, Little Wing," Liara heard Benezia answer.

"Mother, I am not in love," she raised her voice. "Do you have to put me on speaker every time I call?"

"When I'm the one doing the calling I sure as shit do. Maybe that'll teach you to call more."

"Ok, Dad, I'm pretty busy, I should-"

"Not so fast, kid, really, you love this girl?"

"It's complicated," Liara suddenly felt like a teenager, 40 years old, hiding in her room and staring up at posters, her parents throwing dinner parties where she stammered and tried not to spill soup on her dress; maybe trying too hard to get Jarissa D'rasus to notice her.

"Liara, I've had kids with hanar, _that's_ complicated; what's this girl done?"

"Nothing, Dad, I'm okay. Tell Mom I love her." She hung up and stared at the blank wall across the room. She only rose to get ready for bed when darkness had obscured her view.

Her anger at Shepard and Aria had faded into a dull ache over the past few months, but instead of winking out it had left her feeling a little hollow. She looked over to her closet, where Shepard's belt hung on the back of the door. She had carried it around in her bag for a little while, hoping she'd use it as an excuse to make conversation with Jane, but every time she had spotted her on campus she had lost the nerve.

Try as she might, she still couldn't stop thinking about her, though.

Aria had been scarce, and although Liara appreciated not seeing her face the first little while, she was lonely in the apartment alone. She also had a sneaking suspicion she knew where her roommate was spending her nights. She always knew this hurt was a possibility, she just didn't realize it would hurt so badly.

Liara had been doing some digging into Aria's extracurricular activities and had found some interesting things, things she was originally going to use as blackmail. One name kept popping up in connection to Aria: Aria T'Loak's Academic Advisor – Thea Tevos. Office hours and extra time after class – spent with Thea Tevos. Who was Aria seen with at Apollo's Café? – Thea Tevos.

 _Professor_ Thea Tevos.

They're interactions outside of the classroom had stopped suspiciously right around the time Aria had slept with Shepard and Liara had read that Aria had dropped out of her class.

Liara had spent an afternoon in the company of one Professor Tevos, asking questions supposedly related to her PhD.

 _"_ _I'm not sure what help I am going to be to you, Ms. T'Soni. I am a Galactic Politics Professor, and we know very little about Prothean policies," Tevos had welcomed her into her office, motioning to a chair in front of her desk. Her eyes were almost the same shade as Shepard's, but her features were softer: high cheekbones, large, full lips, a Roman nose._

 _"_ _I'm sure you will be able to provide me with plenty of answers, Professor."_

A pretty clear picture was coming together for Liara, but now she wasn't so sure what to do with that information.

Liara, having been rudely awoken, sat in the dark until she heard the front door open. She closed her eyes, trying to muster the courage to face Aria, to perhaps apologize, or let her in on the information she had gathered about Tevos.

She heard a soft knock on her door, which made her jump a little.

 _I am not ready for this,_ she thought, hesitating before crossing the room and opening it a crack; Aria smelled like whiskey and smoke but Liara was relieved Jane wasn't with her. "Yes?"

"Sorry about all that – outside – but here," Aria held up a crumbled piece of paper, a piece of sheet music. She handed it to Liara, who took it, read the title and looked back at her, lips parted and brows knitted.

"She wrote this? For me?"

"She's playing at the Coffee House tonight at Afterlife," Aria said. Liara nodded and looked back down at the sheet of music,

"Thank you."

Aria turned to leave but hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder, "do you own a copy of _A Christmas Carol_?"

"Uh- no, sorry."

"Worth a shot," she stumbled away into her own room.


	13. Chapter 13

Shepard took a drink of whiskey from her glass, held it on her tongue until it tingled, then replied, "Yah, a little guitar and piano." Aria's invitation to go get drunk was being taken very seriously by them both.

"No shit, Shep? Hell, I used to play a mean bass, we should form a band; I bet we could teach the Queen here to sing lead."

"Jack, I'd rather sleep with an elcor," Aria replied.

"Here," Jack disappeared behind the bar and brought out a datapad, "We have a Coffee House every month – it's tomorrow night, but I'm betting you have an old earth standard or two you could pull outta your ass."

"Why the hell not," Shepard replied, entering her info; redoing it when she hit the wrong letters and spelled her own name wrong. Aria smirked, downing her shot and pouring another from the bottle on the bar. She grabbed it around the neck and brought it back to their table, Shepard on her heels.

Shepard was sitting with her back to the door of the café when a tall brunette threw a glass of whiskey in her face. Some splashed on Aria, who was to Shepard's left, and the asari stood, biotics flashing. Jane put a hand on her arm and looked shook her head.

Jack came out from behind the bar, "Touch her and I'll smear the walls with you, bitch," she said, standing between Miranda and the pair.

Shepard spoke, "Just a thought, but it's a bad idea to piss off your bartender."

"Don't worry, I couldn't possibly think of anything worse to do to her than that haircut," Miranda shot back.

"You might break a nail, Cheerleader."

"Let me guess," Aria stepped around Jack and circled Miranda, "you must be a friend of T'Soni's? Well, well, Blue does have a social life after all."

"Aria, leave her alone," Shepard said, standing and leading Miranda away with a light touch on the shoulder. "Listen, Miranda, was it? I'm glad you got that out of your system, but please don't antagonize those two, okay?"

"Who do you think-"

"Seriously, don't. I get it, I'm a jackass, I fucked up – Jesus, how many times do I have to admit that to people? – but, well, if you see Liara, please tell her-"

"I'm not telling her anything from you," Miranda said, walking away with a flip of her hand, "tell her yourself."

"Alright," Shepard called, swaying a little from the booze.

 _Alright,_ she thought, _I will_.

"What the fuck was that about?" Jack asked as Shepard approached the bar for a refill,

"Nothing. Aria. Me. Whatever."

"You're cut off, Princess," she replied, taking Jane's glass and not returning it. "Go home with your purple play thing and let her smack you around a bit with her leather, or whatever it is you two get off on, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"What's that, Jack?" Aria had returned from washing off her jacket in the bathroom.

"I told Shepard to take you home and thoroughly use you, she's had enough."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Shepard replied, heading for the door, "but you're right, I'm gone." _I have places to be, ha._

"I'll make sure she doesn't fall in a snow bank," Aria said, slapping her hand on the counter, "Put all this on my tab, or take it outta my earnings, whatever, I don't care." She barely wobbled, but she had put more booze away than Jack had seen before.

The asari left with less grace than usual, but she was positively sober compared to the zigzagged footprints Jane had left in the fresh powdering of snow. Aria rolled her eyes when she saw they led towards residence. "Bad idea, Shepard," she called into the swirling night.

Aria caught up to Shepard outside her and Liara's building; Jane was standing in a full two feet of snow, neck titled up, calling up at the windows.

"Liara! Liara, Liara, hey!"

A window flung open and a sleepy-eyed Liara poked her head out, wrapping her arms around herself against the cold.

"Shepard?"

"You've got the most beautiful eyes, Liara," Shepard called, grinning. "I want to kiss your freckles."

"I'm occupied, Shepard. This is not appropriate, people are sleeping."

"I don't care. I love you."

"You just say these things."

"I love you! I'm sorry I slept with Aria, but she's nice. She told me to come here."

"I did not," Aria had caught up to Jane, and tried to direct her away from the window; other lights were flickering on in adjoining rooms, faces popping up in windows, some smiling, but some not.

"Shepard, you are drunk," Liara said, catching Aria's eye, "go home."

"I am home," she replied, "I feel at home with you," she sank into the snow, sitting. "I love you."

"Okay, Romeo, let's go," Aria shrugged up at Liara, who closed her window and shut off her light before Jane could call her out again.

Aria lit them both a smoke.

"Thanks, this is great. Booze is great, Aria. You're great, you know that? You're the sexiest thing I've ever had near me, Gawd, you really are. My God, the things you do to me."

"I know."

"But she's," she sighed, "Oh man, she's just-"

"I know."

"Do you ever think about booze, Aria? I mean, look, every culture, every goddamned species in this galaxy has booze, how crazy is that? Whew." She looked thoughtful; "maybe that says something about us all?"

Aria wrapped her arms around her, "No. No, you're not supposed to kiss me anymore," Shepard said, leaning her head on Aria's shoulder.

"Call it one for the road, Jane. Call it one for the road."


End file.
